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Thickness Dependence of Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO3 Thin Films Based on Asymmetric Structures

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Abstract

BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films with different layers were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via the sol–gel method, and the effect of nonuniform electric field formed by asymmetry electrodes on the photovoltaic properties has been investigated through experimental approaches. The Au/BFO/Pt heterostructures show 1.3 V open-circuit voltages and ∼0.242% photovoltaic power conversion efficiency when illuminated under sunlight (AM 1.5), this high efficiency is at least one order of magnitude larger than many other values thus far reported for BFO-based devices prepared by the spin coated method. The film layer dependence of the photovoltaic effect suggests that the large open-circuit voltage and high efficiency are contributed by both the ferroelectric polarization and the asymmetric structures formed by top and bottom electrodes. Theoretical analysis indicates that the efficiency may be further significantly improved by increasing the number of film layers and the nonuniform depolarization field, implying potential applications.

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Acknowledgements

The present work has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51372283, 51402031, 61404018), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing (CSTC2015jcyjA50003, CSTC2015jcyjA50015, CSTC2016jcyjA0175, CSTC2016jcyjA0349), the Scientific and Technological Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJ1501310, KJ1501318), the Program for Innovation Teams in University of Chongqing, China (Grant No. CXTDX201601032), the Foundation of Chongqing University of Science & Technology (CK2015B05, CK2015Z13), and the cooperative project of the academician workstation of Chongqing University of Science & Technology (CKYS2014Z01, CKYS2014Z03, CKYS2014Y04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, 401331, China

    Rongli Gao, Chunling Fu, Wei Cai, Gang Chen, Xiaoling Deng & Xianlong Cao

  2. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Nano/Micro Composite Materials and Devices, Chongqing, 401331, China

    Rongli Gao, Chunling Fu, Wei Cai, Gang Chen, Xiaoling Deng & Xianlong Cao

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  1. Rongli Gao
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  2. Chunling Fu
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  3. Wei Cai
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  4. Gang Chen
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  5. Xiaoling Deng
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  6. Xianlong Cao
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Correspondence to Rongli Gao.

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Gao, R., Fu, C., Cai, W. et al. Thickness Dependence of Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO3 Thin Films Based on Asymmetric Structures. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 2373–2378 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5292-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5292-4

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